GCC accident rate up 11%

Road accidents in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries rose by 11 percent to 950,000 in a year, a recent study said. GCC accidents rose from 853,700 in 2011 to 945,400 in 2012 with Saudi Arabia topping the list with 589,258 accidents, followed by Qatar (252,614), Kuwait, Oman, UAE and Bahrain. Essam bin Hassan Kawther of King Abdulaziz University estimated the total value of economic damage caused by accidents at SR 87.18 billion annually. Kawther’s estimate was based on a study conducted on 1,100 people involved in accidents, 872 of which were injured. Statistics from the General Directorate of Traffic show that the Kingdom has 23 deaths per 100,000 people, with on average 19.1 road fatalities daily.   Arab News